Charlie Brown
Charles "Charlie" Brown is the protagonist in the comic strip Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz. Charlie Brown and his creator have a common connection in that they are both the sons of barbers, but whereas Schulz's work is described as the "most shining example of the American success story", Charlie Brown is an example of "the great American un-success story" in that he fails in almost everything he does. Character Charlie Brown is a lovable loser, caring, hopeless 8 year old, a child possessed of endless determination and hope, but who is ultimately dominated by his insecurities and a "permanent case of bad luck," and is often taken advantage of by his peers. He and Lucy Van Pelt star in a running gag that recurs throughout the series: Lucy holds a football for Charlie Brown to kick, but pulls it away before he kicks it, causing Charlie Brown to fly into the air and fall on his back. He normally wears a yellow shirt with a black zig-zag stripe, black shorts, white socks and brown shoes. He has a little sister named Sally Brown. He has a crush with the unseen Little Red-Haired Girl. Schulz acknowledged that he created Charlie Brown as somewhat of a self-portrait, in that the character shares Schulz's self-doubt and insecurities. Names and nicknames Since the early strips, where Shermy mentions him and Patty refers to him directly, Charlie Brown is nearly always referred to or addressed by his full name by everyone whenever possible, and only otherwise for specific reasons. Umberto Eco has pointed out that the fact that Charlie Brown is invariably referred to by his full name follows a convention found in epic poetry giving Charlie Brown a sense of universal identification. It was eventually revealed that the first person to have called him "Charlie Brown" was Poochie, a blonde little girl who played with Snoopy as a pup. Peppermint Patty calls him "Chuck" most of the time, while her friend Marcie usually uses "Charles"; in 1979 they admitted to each other that each probably has a crush on him, explaining the familiarity. Snoopy usually only obliquely refers to Charlie Brown as "the round-headed kid," though in strips up to the mid-1960s, even Snoopy occasionally called him "Charlie Brown." Eudora also calls him "Charles". A minor character named Peggy Jean in the early 1990s who called him "Brownie Charles", because Charlie Brown, in his typical nervous and awkward fashion, messed up his own name when he introduced himself and couldn't bring himself to correct the mistake when it turned out he liked when she called him that. Also, Lucy called him "Charlie" at one point in A Charlie Brown Christmas. To avoid awkward-sounding dialogue, his sister Sally Brown simply calls him "big brother," though she has used his full name when discussing him with others. Snoopy often refers to Charlie Brown as "that round-headed kid" or "that round-headed kid who feeds me", though never to Charlie Brown's face. He is occasionally referred to as a "blockhead" by some characters, especially by Lucy. History Charlie Brown first appeared in 1947 before'' Peanuts started he was first in a comic strip called ''Little Folks. Later he appeared in the first comic strip called Peanuts in 1950. Aside from some stylistic differences in Schulz's art style at the time, Charlie Brown looked much the same. He did, however, wear an unadorned T-shirt; the stripe was added within the first year of publication (December 21, 1950), in order to add more color to the strip. Charlie Brown stated in an early strip (November 3, 1950) that he was "only four years old", but he aged over the next two decades, being six years old as of November 17, 1957 and "eight-and-a-half years old" by July 11, 1979. Later references continue to peg Charlie Brown as being approximately eight years old. Another early strip, on October 30, 1950, has Patty and Shermy wishing Charlie Brown a happy birthday on that day, although they are not sure they have the date right. His name has been stated by various sources to be for a childhood friend of Schulz, or for author Charles Brockden Brown, author of Edgar Huntly. Category:Characters